Mike Bielecki has been bounced from the bullpen to the starting rotation and back. But he`s cementing a job as a starter with a new pitch.
It`s a slow curve. How slow? It was clocked at just 51 m.p.h. during a recent start.
”My brother calls it the `vanish ball,` ” Bielecki said. ”That`s what it is officially. It`s not the `slop drop` anymore.”
Thanks in part to his new pitch, Bielecki has lost just once since rejoining the rotation July 6. He`s 3-1 with a 3.62 earned-run average in that stretch.
Bielecki only throws the fat, overhand pitch a dozen or so times each start, but it makes his fastball and forkball that much tougher to hit.
”A lot of guys don`t want to swing at it because it`s so high,”
Bielecki said. ”Then it vanishes into the strike zone.”
On the mend: The inflammation in Frank Castillo`s arm has begun to subside, raising hopes that the rookie right-hander will be available for this weekend`s series against Philadelphia in Wrigley Field. The Cubs have picked Bob Scanlan to start in Castillo`s place Thursday. It`s Scanlan`s first start since June 28.
Day and night: The Cubs` odd schedule has given them three day games following night games in the space of one week. It began last week in Philadelphia and continued with a pair of quick turnarounds in Wrigley Field.
Day games after night games usually mean no batting practice and curtailed fielding practice. And they almost always mean little sleep.
The players want to know why the club didn`t schedule a night game Monday to follow Sunday night`s game.
”It`s screwing me up bad,” George Bell said. ”I`ve got to ask every day-`What time is the game today?` ”
Coming around: Doug Dascenzo and Jerome Walton teamed up to help the Cubs beat the New York Mets Monday, but neither of the slumping outfielders was in center field Tuesday night. Instead, manager Jim Essian gave Dwight Smith his sixth start there. Smith, who doubled home a run in the second, went into the game 4 for his last 10 after an 0-for-10 slide.
Dascenzo said he thinks his rally-starting pinch-single Monday has ended his troubles. He had been 0 for 32 since the All-Star break before that hit.
”I had fallen into what you might say was an irreversible slump,” he said. ”You try to get out of it so hard that you get away from the basics.” Hitting feats: With a three-run homer in the third inning, Andre Dawson joined George Bell and Ryne Sandberg as Cub hitters with 20 or more homers. It`s the first time the Cubs have had three 20-homer guys since 1987, when Dawson, Keith Moreland and Leon Durham did it. And it`s the first time they`ve had two in the outfield since 1973, when Rick Monday and Billy Williams did it. Dawson has hit at least 20 homers in 12 of his 15 major-league seasons.. . . Mark Grace extended his hitting streak to a career-best 19 games. It`s the longest streak by a Cub since Jerome Walton hit in 30 straight as a rookie in 1989. Grace has hit .439 during the streak (36 for 82) and has hit .545 in his last 10 games (24 for 44).